An Overview of CAN-BUS Development, Utilization, and Future Potential in Serial Network Messaging for Off-Road Mobile Equipment

Abstract

A Controller Area Network (CAN) is a serial network information technology that facilitates the passing of information between Electronic Control Units (ECUs, also known as nodes). Developed by BOSCH in 1986 to circumvent challenges in harness-connected systems and provide improved message handling in automobiles, the CAN interface allows broadcast communication between all connected ECUs within a vehicle’s integrated electronic system through distributed control and decentralized measuring equipment. Since the early uses of CAN in car engine management, improvements in bitrate, bandwidth, and standardization protocols (such as ISO 11898 and SAE J1939) have led to CAN utilization in various industry applications, such as factory automation, aviation, off-highway vehicles, and telematics. Alternative wired and wireless technologies have been used to connect and network with CAN-BUS (such as Ethernet, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, etc.), further expanding the diversity of applications in which the serial network is employed. In this chapter, the past, present, and prospective future developments of CAN technology, with focused attention on applications in the agricultural and off-road sectors are broadly examined. CAN technology fundamentals, standards creation, modern day uses, and potential functionalities and challenges specific to CAN in the wake of precision agriculture and smart farming are discussed in detail.

New Can Bus Communication Modules for Digitizing Forest Machines Functionalities in the Context of Forestry 4.0

“…The Standard protocol message frame presents some essential fields for the proper transmission and reception of CAN messages as described next [18] and presented in Figure 3: • Data Length Code (DLC), a 4 bit field that determines the Data bytes' number to be transmitted; • Data presents the message information with up to 64 bits message; • Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), ;…”

“…So, with the rapid advance of technology, the increase of the electronic systems' functionality, and amount of ECU's connected in a single bus for communication, the CAN bus protocol itself may cause certain problems such as bus overload and may no longer be considered a viable solution for ECU's communication. Therefore, Higher-layer Protocols based on CAN emerges as Society of Automotive Engineers J1939 (SAE J1939) [22], CANOpen [23], On-Board Diagnosis (OBDII) [24], Isobus [25], CAN FD [26], etc., for data monitoring, control and diagnosis [18], [27].…”

“…Currently, all of the agricultural and forest machinery integrate CAN Bus system, due to its less complex electronic circuit controls, for allow high performance precision and providing logistics information, through real-time data that helps estimate operation costs (e.g., fuel consumption, average operating speed and engine load), better decision-making, transport efficiency and develop lower cost equipment's, according to operational events registered. With the conjunction of the CAN and Telematics protocol, it becomes possible that all the data collected be integrated into a server network for wider usage and analysis [18].…”